December Reviews

360 degree views near the Frances mirador and hearing glaciers calving Walking on Grey Glacier and seeing all its tongues from the Grey Navigation boat. Fabulous views and hikes at El Chalten.

My most memorable moment was seeing the three Towers of Paine. We were fortunate to have a blue sky day with little wind and spent more than an hour enjoying the incredible scenery and ambiance at the base of the towers.

- Torres del Paine was the highlight, hiking in Fitz Roy was also amazing - More wildlife than expected, but no pumas :( - We met mostly the guides and some other hikers; all were very nice

Overall, the obvious highlight was the W-trek through Torres Del Paine. The park is great, the route is fantastic. We got very lucky with the weather. We did the refugios and the 'glamping' option which we enjoyed for our short trip - the food in the refugios was surprisingly excellent and we enjoyed all of that a lot. In particular, our guide Chuma, was fantastic and really made the trip too. I was a bit dubious about having a guide but that worked out brilliantly. The whole W is great, but getting up to the towers, and hiking up to Brittanica (a slight detour) were both really great. As was going up to see the glacier field above Glacier Grey by hiking up over the second suspension bridge (another detour). Alongside all the of the information and time with glaciers was fascinating.

The entire trip was a highlight! Totally worth the effort getting down there. Between all the flights and bus rides, all of the hours of traveling seemed to disappear the minute we entered the park. The crazy blue waters, the amazing snow covered peaks, the freshness of the air, the excitement of all the other people heading in. We were lucky with the weather, had beautiful partly sunny, partly cloudy days, with only one snowy/rainy day, and of course the winds...must experience the Patagonian winds!! Overall the trip was AMAZING!!!

It is impossible to pick just one. We LOVED all three of the full day excursions we did. Tuesday, our 1st full day in camp, we went big - Base of the Towers. The weather had been very windy for the prior 2 weeks (we were told); however, Tuesday was absolutely perfect. The only negative about the excursion is hordes of people. There is a small city hiking the trail. Other than that, awe inspiring. Day 2 as Mirador Ferrier (for 3 of the 4 in our group). Our 4th member hung out for 3 hours in the coffee shop and read a book - a perfect 3 hours for that person. After Ferrier, we connected with our 4th member and made the easy walk son the beach of Grey Lake and part way around the peninsula to see ice bergs and Grey Glacier. The weather was windy and a bit rainy, but that is not a negative at all. The weather can change every 15 minutes and provides uniqueness all the time. Our last full day at camp was the French Valley hike. Because the boat across Pehoe Lake only comes and goes certain times, you aren’t able to “take your time” as much. However, I think the French Valley is better for some of us than Base of the Towers, while some would say Base of the Towers and others would say Ferrier. That must mean we chose the perfect excursions for our fitness level - we are all in. As cool as the excursions were, the people at Patagonia Camp were the most memorable part of the trip for all of us. Paao, our guide for day 1, immediately became a member of our family. We loved her so much we begged to have her be our guide on all 3 days, and they granted us the wish. We love her!!! Rafael, the general manager of Pat Camp, won us over from the first time we met him. He always took the time to seek us out at camp and meaningful discussions with us, tell us about Chilean history, Pat Camp stuff, and stories about life. He will be a dear friend forever, even if we never see him again. The list of others is so long: Emily, Javi and Tamara - our servers in the restaurant, Andres - the bartender, Paula - the greeter, the front desk people, Andre - head of excursions, Edgardo - front desk, and the list goes on. PEOPLE, PEOPLE, PEOPLE. The Pat Camp staff are top notch. We are believers that you get from life what you put into it. The same goes with relationships with others. We genuinely wanted to connect with our Pat Camp friends, and they wanted to connect with us.

Highlights: Wilderness of Isla de Navarino, and climbing surprisingly interesting and spectacular peaks from El Chaltén. Birdlife was prolific and spectacular. Everyone was very friendly and helpful. Almost everything was surprising. Not to have time in the wilder off-trail parts of the Paine region was disappointing.

I answered 'Maybe' to the above question because Patagonia is so very far away from South Africa, but if it was nearer we would definitely want to go again. For me, the unexpected highlight were the epiphytic forests, especially in Pumalin Park. We were very struck by the politeness of everyone in Chile, and the safety - given where we come from! We found everyone we were in contact with to be welcoming and helpful. One of the most magical moments was our arrival at Tepuhueico, where we were stunned by the architecture and the warm tones of the wood, as well as the thought that had gone into every aspect of the building. It was a lovely treat of a stay to end the trip.

Trip was wonderful! The highlights were amazing landscapes and friendly, interesting people. The wind was the big surprise, despite multiple warnings, we still did not expect the powerful gusts (50 mph or more!) that we encountered. Magical moment was the sun setting at 11:00 at night, with a full moon rising.

The trip was great. The Stella Australis was wonderful as was the crew, above and beyod expectations. The Glaciers were amazing. The scenery was breath taking and memorizing. Should be on everyone's "bucket list". Eco Camp in Torres del Paine - AMAZING!!!! The views were out of this world. The wildlife that we did get to see, beautiful!!!! The accomodations were as expected and were fit for a trip like this. Everyone that worked to put this trip together for us did a great job and exceeded our expectations. Thank you so much. A trip of a life time that will forever be remembered.

Whole trip was fantastic! Single most memorable moment was encountering a puma while trekking. We saw a lot of pumas, and came eye to eye with one.

Awasi in Torres del Paine was the highlight. Staff were outstanding and service impeccable. Our guide, Catalina was one of the best we have experienced anywhere. Seeing 5 pumas in one morning was an absolute highlight as was the walk through Frenchman's valley. Loved all the hiking, every walk we dud was fantastic.

The highlight was the cruise around Terra del Fuego on the Australis. The landscapes around El Chalten and in Torres del Paine were exceptional, the glaciers were amazing. On the trekking part of the holiday the best day was when we went to Britannico

The highlight of the trip for me was definitely the riding on the Grey III and getting to experience the Glacier super close up. I also really enjoyed the day hike from Refugio Chileno to Domo Frances. Even though it was one of the longest hikes, it was the most scenic in my opinion. The landscape was just mesmerizing. I literally couldn't stop looking at the granite peaks to the right and the turquoise blue glacier lakes to my right :) I was able to see a few animals. Condor, Guanacos and I spotted a pair of Gray Foxes. We were blessed to meet some really cool people. I ran into a bunch of people ironically that were from San Francisco / The Bay Area. We met a couple of British Couples, a group of Norwegian friends travelling the world together and I met a REI Tour group that had previously visited MachuPichu. I personally documented my whole trip with my iPhone by taking a bunch of 4K videos and using my Nikon D750 DSLR to take a bunch of photos. I also took this opportunity to journal as much as I could everyday and I hope to release everything in a blog :) - Also want to add that thanks to my apple watch. I was able to constantly record my hikes and track the journey of my heart rate throughout the trip. I think it will add a really cool layer of visibility when I share it with my friends and family. The most magical moments for me were split between two scenarios. I was blessed to have to of my very close friends join me and share many of the experiences throughout this trek. They were also much more conditioned than me and at times hiked faster than me which provided me with times of solitude. Being able to experience both of these moments allowed me to truly enjoy the hike at my own pace.

The circuit trek in Torre del Paine was by far the highlight. The remoteness and the untouched nature were amazing. Both of our guides on the hikes were amazing! The simple and quiet beauty is what we will remember forever.

We loved Argentina and Patagonia. The views and hikes were incredible. Truly. The day and hike to Mt Fitz Roy will remain a lifelong memory. We did not see any wildlife - so I am sorry about that. The people were generous and warm and welcoming. Surprised by how closed down things were over the holidays - Christmas Eve, Christmas and New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Things just shut down. Good to know if you are planning a trip to have other things planned.

Patagonia was full of the most gorgeous landscapes, wildness, and authentic people. We had adventures, ate amazing foods, and made friends that we still keep in touch with. It was truly the trip of a lifetime.

We loved our time in Patagonia and appreciated all the diverse experiences we had while there - hiking, kayaking, socializing with other international travelers. The landscape was stunning and our fellow hikers made for great traveling companions.

There were a lot so it's hard to choose. The first viewpoint on day 2 really blew me away. I saw a glacier calve at Perros camp which was unreal. Obviously Lago Grey, French valley, and the towers all made me so grateful to be in the park on this trip.

The trip was great. Unfortunately there was a bridge broken so we were unable to complete the actual W Trek and had to do one of the hikes 2 days in a row, which was very disappointing, but that wasn't something that could be controlled. The guide offered to let us cross the river, and half of the group wanted to but the other half was against it so it would have been nice to just have the guide make the decision for us instead of leaving it up to individuals totally unfamiliar with the area. Also the mandatory upgrade to semi private cabins on the 3rd night was very disappointing and inconvenient as the bathrooms were broken and we ended up having to trek down to the main part just to use the bathroom and showers. We got to see a lot of wildlife- including a puma, foxes, and guanacos! Very cool! The accommodations are in stunning locations as well and glad I wasn't camping!